1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the decontanination of chemical agents. More particularly, the present invention is a composition, and a method that uses the composition, which decontaminate nerve and mustard chemical warfare agents. The composition is generally non-toxic to handling personnel prior to its use as a decontaminate for chemical warfare agents.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
Today's military forces are confronted with the possibility of encountering chemical agents in battlefields. Additionally, civilians are at risk to unforeseen chemical leaks and possible terrorist attacks using chemical weapons.
Militarily, decontamination systems are important because they allow rapid decontamination of material in the immediate area of the soldier. They may be liquid solutions or solid sorbents. Decontamination capability allows soldiers to restore materiel contaminated with chemical agents. Rapid decontamination mininizes downtime for soldiers operating within an operating area.
Several types of toxic chemical compounds are known. These include mustard and nerve agents. Mustard agents or gases, also called blister agents, may be nitrogen or chlorinated sulfur compounds. The most common type of mustard agent are the chlorinated sulfur compounds. Long after mustard gas was discovered in 1822, it was used in World War I as a chemical warfare agent, causing approximately 400,000 casualties. The sulphur mustard gas is chemically known as bis-(chloroethyl)-sulphide. The nitrogen mustard gas is chemically known as tris(2-chloroethyl)amine. Mustard gas is a colorless, oily liquid having a garlic or horseradish odor. It is slightly soluble in water, complicating removal by washing. It primarily attacks humans through inhalation and dermal contact, having an Airborne Exposure Limit (AEL) of 0.003 mg/m.sup.3. Mustard gas is a vesicant and an alkylating agent which produces a cytotoxic reaction to the hematopoietic tissues. Symptoms usually begin to take effect 4 to 24 hours after initial contact. The rate of detoxification of mustard gas is slow and repeated exposure yields a cumulative effect.
Nerve agents or gases were discovered in 1936, during research on more effective pesticides. Nerve agents inhibit a certain enzymes within the human body from destroying a substance called acetylcholine. This produces a nerve signal within the body forcing the muscles to contract. Nerve agents have an Airborne Exposure Limit (AEL) of 0.00001 mg/m.sup.3.
Currently, one of the primary chemical warfare agent decontaminating solutions is Decontamination Solution 2. Decontamination Solution 2, or DS2, is a chemical warfare decontaminating solution used by the United States Army. DS2 contains approximately 70% diethylenetriamine (DETA), 28% ethylene glycol monomethyl ether (EGME), and 2% NaOH by weight, and is used for decontaminating a variety of chemical warfare agents. However, DS2 is toxic, corrosive, flammable and hazardous to the environment. EGME is teratogenic, and the secondary amine structure in DETA possess a possible health hazard from conversion to a potential N-nitrosoamine carcinogen. DS2 is extremely resistant to biodegradation, particularly with regard to the DETA component of the solution.
Although basic peroxide has been shown to decontaminate GD and GB, it does not individually affect HD, because of both its insolubility in aqueous media and its slow reaction with OOH.sup.-. It has been reported in "Catalytic Activation of Hydrogen Peroxide-A Green Oxidant System," by Russell S. Drago, Karen M. Frank, George Wagner, and Yu-Chu Yang in Proceedings of the 1997 ERDEC Scientific Conference on chemical and Biological Defense Research, ERDEC-SP-063, Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland, July 1998, pp. 341-342, that bicarbonate ion dramatically enhances the oxidation of HD by peroxide in water/t-BuOH media via generation of the highly reactive peroxocarbonate, HCO.sub.4.sup.-.